Third Meeting of the Joint Steering Committee (JSC)

November 27, 2003
12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Participants

Record of Discussion

Monica Patten welcomed all of the members and introduced Joseph (Jay) Allen, Industry Canada to present the first agenda item.

Proposed Changes to Canada Corporations Act

Jay Allen, Corporate and Insolvency Law Policy Directorate, Industry Canada made a presentation on proposed changes to the Canada Corporations Act as it relates to directors’ liability. As part of its VSI commitments, Industry Canada is examining directors’ liability in the context of federally incorporated not-for-profit corporations, over which the Act has jurisdiction.

Following advice from an Experts group of voluntary sector and legal community members, as well as consultations across the country, Industry Canada began on-going work on reforming the Canada Corporations Act. They also developed a Primer for Directors and Officers of Not-for-Profit Corporations, in partnership with the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy. The proposed changes will help to address concerns related to personal liability of directors, officers and volunteers. The Primer was developed to help directors to know their rights and responsibilities and to help them do the best job possible.

The committee noted the importance of a strong legislative base for protection, as well as appropriate training for directors and officers. They highlighted that reforms to the Act will only apply to federally incorporated organizations, over which it has jurisdiction. In addition, they pointed to research being conducted by Roberta Bustard at the Voluntary Sector Forum on insurance costs and liabilities for organizations. She is consulting with organizations across the country and will be developing recommendations for further policy options.

Advocacy

Shauna Sylvester and Gordon Floyd briefed the committee on the Voluntary Sector Forum’s objectives concerning the issue of advocacy. They noted the Government of Canada recognized the legitimacy of the voluntary sector’s advocacy role in both the Accord Between the Government of Canada and the Voluntary Sector and in the Codes of Good Practice, yet feel federal legislation does not coincide with this recognition.

The participation of organizations in political activities is governed by common law, the Income Tax Act and the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency’s (CCRA) administrative policies related to the interpretation of the Income Tax Act. Common law provides guidance on purposes of organizations for determining charitable status, while the Income Tax Act focuses on activities, not purposes. The presenters noted this disconnect makes understanding the restrictions on political activities difficult for organizations. Currently there is no definition of what is a charitable activity; however, the Act says that to be a charity an organization must be engaged in exclusively charitable activities.

To address their concerns related to advocacy, the VSF suggests: amending the language of the Income Tax Act to refer to charitable purposes, not activities; removing restrictions on political activities related to an organization’s mandate; and creating a modern, codified definition of charity to replace the existing common law categories.

Accord and Codes

a) Report to Canadians and future priorities

Janet Campbell, Canadian Heritage, provided details to the committee on Taking the Accord Forward - The First Report to Canadians on Implementing an Accord Between the Government of Canada and the Voluntary Sector. The report has been approved and is scheduled for release on December 5th (the second anniversary of the signing of the Accord). It is accompanied by two background papers, one prepared by each sector. The government will distribute the joint report to Members of Parliament and Senators, to Deputy Ministers, to departmental champions and to provincial and territorial contacts. The sector will distribute the report to national and regional organizations. Communications activities will highlight the release of the report.

The joint report describes implementation progress and challenges and sets out priorities the government and voluntary sector will work on jointly.

The Voluntary Sector Affairs Directorate and the Voluntary Sector Forum will develop a joint workplan to advance these priorities over the coming year. Workplan activities will be subject to availability of funds.

b) Implementation Progress

The Voluntary Sector Affairs Directorate and the Voluntary Sector Forum developed a workshop concept and module-based materials for spreading the word about the Accord and Codes and for training local trainers from both sectors to deliver the workshop themselves. As of December 5, French and English-language training workshops will have been held in Fredericton, Calgary and Edmonton. Government departments in Ottawa have requested a train-the-trainer session.

In addition, an interdepartmental working group has met and will form sub-groups on the implementation of the funding code and processes for monitoring and measuring progress with regard to Accord and Codes implementation. VSAD will update provincial and territorial contacts on recent VSI developments and provide them with the Accord and Codes information and training kits, as well as the first Report to Canadians.

The committee discussed the importance of communicating the progress VSI is making, balanced by the need to focus on implementation of the Accord and Codes at the local level.

c) Sectoral Involvement in Departmental Policy Development (SIDPD) Sharing of Results

Jean Christie, Voluntary Sector Forum, noted that a joint meeting is planned for December 12 to bring together departments and organizations that participated in the SIDPD projects. The meeting will allow them to begin to share learnings from the projects and the process of working together.

Research

Mike Sheridan and Michael Hall (Canadian Centre for Philanthropy - CCP) provided updates on three research projects.

a) Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating (CSGVP)

The CSGVP tracks public support and engagement with voluntary organizations. The CSGVP was originally the National Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating (NSGVP) and was a supplement to the Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey. It will be an ongoing, stand-alone survey, conducted every three years, managed by a steering committee of representatives from the voluntary sector and Statistics Canada.

Due to labour relations issues with interviewers, the CSGVP steering committee decided to move the data collection phase back one year to the fall of 2004.

CCP is producing and disseminating a series of fact sheets based on data from the previous NSGVP.

b) Satellite Account

The Satellite Account of Nonprofit Institutions and Volunteering provides aggregate statistics on the size, scope and nature of the non-profit sector in economic terms. The planned release date for data from Satellite Account was December 4, 2003, but this target has been changed to January 2004.

c) National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations (NSNVO)

The NSNVO is led by CCP, in collaboration with a consortium of voluntary sector and government organizations. It will provide organizational-level data on finances, expenditures, activities, populations served and capacities to deliver services in the voluntary sector. It was conducted in 2003, with a sample of 14,000 organizations. First results will be released in April 2004 with the Statistics Canada Highlights Report.

Members asked if universities, schools and hospitals were included in the research. They are included in all of the three projects, though it will be possible to break out the data on those organizations in the Satellite Account.

The committee discussed how researchers might be encouraged to mine the data from these research activities and look at the links to social capital and social engagement using the files. Members noted the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council could be a potential partner to promote further research.

Canada Volunteerism Initiative (CVI)

Michael Hall and Marlene Deboisbriand (Volunteer Canada) presented progress on the CVI and the importance of the local networks to meeting the objectives of the initiative.

Members agreed the model of CVI was its strength, as it was anchored in the provinces and territories through the local networks.

Concerns were raised over how long the initiative would continue. PCH has five-year funding for CVI, with an extension pending the results of an evaluation to be carried out in the fourth year. It was pointed out that local networks are well positioned to involve provinces and territories in their particular priorities.

VSI Financial Situation

In June, the JSC agreed to a reallocation of VSI funds totalling $700,000 from HRDC and Industry Canada to Canadian Heritage for governance activities. To date, $550,000 of these reallocations has been contributed to the Voluntary Sector Forum for the oversight of the work of VSI Phase II. An additional $150,000 has been recommended by Canadian Heritage and is awaiting final approval.

In 2004-2005, additional transfers will be made to Canadian Heritage of $300,000 from Industry Canada and $100,000 from HRDC.

The Awareness, Capacity and IM/IT advisory bodies have reported on the status of their budgets to date, as well as planned expenditures to the end of this fiscal year. None anticipate lapsing funds.

Other Items/Next Meeting

Following consultations with all members’ offices concerning availability for the next JSC meeting, the secretariat will confirm whether members who must travel would prefer to meet on March 1 or 2, 2004. The date will be confirmed with all offices as soon as possible.

* Voluntary Sector Affairs Directorate, Canadian Heritage (VSAD)